This
is a really nice sampler book of 1950s pre-code Horror. While
Fantagraphics' Four Color Fear: Forgotten Horror Comics of the
1950s is a better value overall, this is a great companion book
to that wonderful compilation. If you have never read any pre-code
Horror comic books, these two books are a great place to start. While
EC Comics are the gold standard, there are many worthwhile talents in
many of the off brands and knockoff titles as well.

This
is a beefy book, but only 91 out of the 306 pages are complete
stories. The rest of the pages are articles which provide invaluable
historical context, excerpts from other stories (including
Marvel/Atlas and EC), and hundreds of covers. The great thing about
these covers is that they demonstrate the breadth and depth of the
genre. The bad thing is that I now want all of these comic books
collected in books! Fortunately for us, PS Artbooks has answered the
call since this book's publication, with their Harvey Horrors and ACG
hardcovers. They reprint the complete issues of several of the stories presented here and in
the aforementioned Four Color Fear. Go to the Harvey Horrors website and see for
yourself. I've been buying them all, and will buy as many as they
release. Marvel has been re-releasing their Atlas '50s output slowly
with their Marvel Masterworks line of high end hardcovers. The EC
Archives are progressing slowly, with the announcement of two more
coming soon. We are truly living in the golden age of collected
editions.

I
love these old Horror comic books, and often chuckle at the black
humor contained therein. It also pleases me to know that these comic
books helped to open the minds of the youths that went on to become
the counter culture of the '60s and help bring about social change in
this country. No wonder the powers that be wanted to shut these types
of comic book down.

This
book also contains a 25 minute long DVD with an episode of
Confidential File. First aired on October 9, 1955, it was an alarmist
show about the dangers of these comic books. I love seeing the kids
of the era reading these now obscure and valuable comics with
reckless abandon.

The
OCD zone- This book is a high quality affair from top to bottom.
The cover is what I call a “hard” softcover, being made of a
super thick cardstock cover that flexes a bit but is highly durable.
The paper is an incredibly thick, uncoated stock. It prevents the
book from laying flat, even though this boasts sewn binding which is
glued to the ribbon and flexes very well.

They
use high resolution scans, although they aren't cleaned up like
Fantagraphics or PS Artbooks use. These are some pretty rough copies,
though, with dog eared covers, splotches on some of the pages, and
other anomalies. While the nostalgia fetishists like this approach, I
like the appearance of mint condition copies used by the
aforementioned companies. I want the look and feel of the book being
fresh off of the presses, not a crumbling old comic book.

DC
has made strides in fixing the problem of their books not laying
flat. Join the cause page if you want make sure that DC keeps up the
recent good work on their hardcovers. Don't do it for me, do it for
the children. Won't somebody
please think of the children??